


don't worry, i see you

by the_Ladder_Scene



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Dark Will Graham, Hallucinations, M/M, Memory Palace, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Post-Fall (Hannibal), Trans Will Graham, hannibal as the wendigo, nightmare stag comes back, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:28:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28007724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_Ladder_Scene/pseuds/the_Ladder_Scene
Summary: Takes place during and post Fall, Will's encephalitis comes back.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for Gore and Violence,  
> Essentially short bits from S3 EP 13  
> The fall and it's aftermath

The glass shatters as the bullet pierces Hannibal, who promptly collapses. Dolarhyde steps fiercely through the now broken window pane, the gun now aimed at Will. Will remains indifferent to this turn of events, it’s what he expected the outcome of this encounter to be after all, what he does not expect is for Dolarhyde to pull out a camera. As Dolarhyde stands and mocks Hannibal, who does not seem to be all too bothered by the gunshot wound, Will comes to a conscious decision in that moment. Dolarhyde must die. Reaching for the gun stored safely in his waistband, Will is caught off guard by Dolarhyde’s knife in his face. Hannibal is clearly outraged by this and springs into attack. 

Dolarhyde is dead. The Great Red Dragon, slain by both Will and Hannibal’s hands. They stumble to the cliff edge. Will grips onto Hannibal like a lifeline. He guides Hannibal's hand to his waist, an act of tenderness to contradict the extreme violence that just passed. Words are exchanged between the pair, most of this interaction is lost to the harsh winds whipping along the cliff face. Hannibal speaks but Will isn’t listening. When Will finally registers that Hannibal has finished speaking he looks the other man in the eyes. He finds a world of longing, tenderness and pain behind those pupils. He speaks; 

“It’s Beautiful.” 

Little does Hannibal know, but Will isn’t talking about his becoming nor the fight, not even the black tinged blood in the moonlight. He’s talking about Hannibal himself, in all of his unnerving grandeur. Will takes one last look up at Hannibal and hopes he can see his own version of emotion behind his eyes. Hannibal looks down at Will and in that moment Will realises what he has to do. He exhales and takes a deep breath. It is Will's choice and Hannibal knows this as Will is the one to push them over the edge of the cliff. 

One word is exchanged between the two men as they plummet from the height of the cliff

“See.” 

Hannibal is the one to say it but Will feels as though he said it as well, repeating Hannibal would feel like one final indignity though, so he opts to keep his mouth shut. In the final moments before they hit the ruthless sea, Time seems to slow until Will could swear he could count the white caps on the waves with ease. He takes one last look into Hannibal's eyes before they hit the water. 

Cold. Too Cold. Will surfaces from the icy waters and thrashes around from the pain of salt in a wound. Pain clouds his thoughts but his mind is cleared by one thought. Hannibal. Will remembers he was shot and that it’s likely he wouldn’t be able to swim in his current state, especially as he took the grunt of the impact of hitting the water as he was underneath Will at the time. Will dives back under the water and opens his eyes, ignoring the sting of the salty water. He scans the depths of the ocean, searching for anything, even a glimpse of Hannibal. Will resurfaces, gasping for air, then heads straight back down to the unforgiving depths of the Atlantic ocean. He comes up for air once more when he sees it. A hand thrust above the waves, who else would it be other than Hannibal? Will swims over to the hand and reaches down, pulling the owner up and above the ravaging waves. Hannibal doesn’t move. Will would almost think he was dead, if not for the shakey rise and fall of his chest and the feeble pulse he could feel through his wrist. Hannibal is pulling Will down with him, but Will refuses to give up, not now when they’re so close to being free. Free from the FBI, Free from Jack and Free from everything that has led up to this moment. In a near fatal moment of clarity, Will thinks maybe he shouldn’t have jumped and pulled Hannibal with him. That moment quickly passes and Wills arms resume slowly pulling them both to shore. Will is fit but swimming against the tide, with Hannibal in one arm and sporting multiple injuries is not in any way tipped in his favor. Nevertheless Will continues pulling both himself and Hannibal to shore. The ocean becomes increasingly likely to take two more victims as Wills limbs begin to tire rapidly. They stop. Will can’t continue, his limbs go slack bar the one holding Hannibal. 

They float together, the waves pushing them further and further out to sea. Will struggles to keep awake, the adrenaline from their tango with the dragon earlier has finally worn off. The hand on Hannibal's shirt tightens and he realises there is no hope for them. Will will die in Hannibal's arms, and Hannibal will die not knowing… 

A light. Too bright. Far too bright to be the moon or stars. A search and rescue helicopter shines it’s chemically bright light down onto the pair. Will musters up his last reserve of energy and screams bloody murder in the hopes it’s Jack in that helicopter. It might be Will's imagination but he swears Hannibal stirs a little at Will's energetic outburst. Just as a ladder starts to descend into the black waters, a wave almost larger than life knocks into Will and Hannibal and pushes them under the water. Will no longer has the strength to swim, so he gives up. He gives up for himself and he gives up for Hannibal. After all this time it comes down to Will’s choice. How oddly fitting. As he closes his eyes for the final time, the last sight he sees isn’t the eye of god, but Jack Crawford, jumping out of a helicopter. Will’s last thought is how fitting it was to die in this moment, God descending from above to try to save mankind from being dragged into the depths by Satan himself.


	2. Hospital isn't becoming of you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will wakes in hospital, very much not dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry that last chapter was short but it was mostly a recap that I had to get out of the way so i could get into the good stuff   
> TWs FOR THIS CHAP - Hospitals, Illness, Hannibal as the wendigo, scars   
> trans will becomes apparent in this chapter btw :))

Sweat trickles down Will’s skin, a lurid reminder of how not-dead he is right now in this moment. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, He finds himself in a hospital room. Assorted flowers are perched precariously on the nightstand. Some of them have been there for quite some time now, the petals wilted and greying. Almost on cue, Jack walks in. 

“You’re awake.” Jack states almost gruffly   
Will would be offended by this if it was anyone else, but he knows Jack has his heart in the right place, unlike so many of Hannibal's victims, speaking of which…   
“Where is He?”   
“I would like to assume the ‘He’ you speak of would be me.”   
Hannibal walks into the room, his presence commanding the feel of the room as always. Will looks up at him and smiles.   
“Hello Doctor Lecter.” Will smiles, probably for the first time in a while.   
Jack shifts his weight from foot to foot, obviously uncomfortable with the situation.   
“I get that you don’t want to talk to me Will but when you do I have a cell set up for you and waiting at reception.” Jack is awkward about leaving the room, almost seeming unsure of himself.   
‘Odd.’ Will thinks to himself. But he turns his attention back to Hannibal only to find he is no longer there. What stands in his place is unnerving. Will’s pupils blow out in fear. A lanky figure, All bones and sinew. Its skin is tar, sickly smelling and almost hot to the touch. Horns sprout from it’s head, growing in size until they scrape the roof. The wendigo has returned. 

Behind closed eyes Will tries not to see it, to think about it. He knows what this means for him though. When he feels a suitable amount of time has passed, Will opens his eyes. The wendigo has gone and in its place is a doctor.   
“Hello Mr Graham, I’m Dr Smith and I’ve been the head Doctor treating you during the three months you’ve been in a coma for.”   
He is matter of fact and to the point. No mucking around. Will appreciates this.   
“Lift your sheets so I can examine your stitches please.”   
Ok he’s to the point but a little on the pushy side. Nevertheless Will pushes back his sheets to bare his chest to the Doctor. Even he can’t help his curiosity and takes a look at the damage that has been done. The scar on his shoulder has already had it’s stitches taken out, ditto for the cut in his face. He has stitches running up his sides, fresh ones at that.   
“Wha…” Will starts before being cut off by Dr Smith.   
“When you hit the water it split the skin, you wouldn’t have felt it for the adrenaline.”   
Will says nothing and just continues to map the other various scars and marks the mottle his naked chest. He could almost list them off and what they were from. The smile shaped scar on his lower abdomen from the incident in Hannibal’s kitchen. The scars running underneath each nipple from his top surgery, A smaller scar from where he has his appendix out and the various cuts and scars from his dogs or Randall Tier. For all this, Dr Smith seems wildly unphased by Wills marred chest and continues to cut stitches from his side.   
“These will scar but not so badly as some of your other injuries.” The Doctor looks pointedly at his smiley scar.   
Wills says nothing again but just nods.   
“Because of your past history with illness,” Dr Smith continues,”We’re going to send you in for a brain scan.”   
Will nods and stares down at his hands. He knows all too well how his last brain scan went, A doctor dead and an (almost) innocent girl framed for a murder that was not her’s.   
The doctor sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose with his left thumb and forefinger.   
“Look I know your last experience in a hospital didn’t go well,”   
“Didn’t go well is an understatement.” Will mutters under his breath   
“Yes well anyways, this is standard protocol. We legally cannot tell you your results as your superior, Jack was it?, made sure of that.”   
Will closes his eyes and tunes out of the conversation. He keeps absentmindedly half listening to the very one sided conversation happening right now. The doctor realises this and turns to leave.   
“Is there anything you need before I leave?” The doctor asks courteously.   
Will looks up at him and remembers what Jack said earlier.   
“There should be a cellphone for me waiting at reception, could I have it?”   
Dr Smith nods and turns on his heel, pacing down the corridor at quite a decent speed, it’s amusing how much his walking fits his personality. Moments later he returns with a cellphone in hand. He hands it to Will and without another word, turns to leave again. Unlocking the phone, Will scrolls through the contacts until he finds the name he’s looking for. Molly. 

The phone rings. And rings. And rings. It keeps ringing for some time before it gets picked up.   
“Hello, Walter Graham speaking, How may I help you?”   
Shock runs across Will’s face before he settles his emotions back down again to speak.   
“Hey Walter it’s Will..” Will starts.   
“Oh,” Then a moment of silence, “Mom doesn’t want me to speak to you.”   
“How is Molly?” Will asks, disregarding the previous statement.   
“Will,” Walter takes an almost comically deep breath, steeling himself for the blow he’s about to deal, “Mom has been dead for 3 months now. She died the night you went after the tooth fairy.”  
Will goes silent. Too silent. How could this happen?   
“How did she..?” Will’s voice trembles and almost breaks.   
“Infection after the surgery, She insisted she was fine until she died.”   
“Oh.” Will doesn’t know what to say.   
“I live with Jack now, You technically don’t have custody of me because of your past…” Walter trails off. He doesn’t have to finish that train of thought. Will already knows. His past, Killing people, Dismembering corpses, Diving off a cliff with a cannibalistic serial killer.   
“Is Jack there now?” Will asks politely.   
“Yeah hold on I’ll pass you over now.” Walter seems almost glad to finish off the conversation.   
Will stays on the line waiting while the phone gets handed over to Jack.   
“Good afternoon Will, are you ready to talk now?”   
“I would’ve expected a bit of a warmer welcome from you Jack, we haven’t spoken in three months after all.” Will rolls his eyes mentally at Jack and hopes he can feel it through the phone. What he doesn’t expect however is a muttered ‘shit’ before Jack resumes talking.   
“You know me Will, always down to business.”   
Will chuckles a little at this. “What is it you wanted to talk about Jack.”  
“I could ask you the same thing, You were the one asking after me after all.” Jack quips.   
Only one question springs to mind and it’s not one he’s sure if he wants to know the answer to.   
“How is He?”   
Jack falls silent on the other end of the line. Will waits for a response he knows won’t come.   
“I don’t know Will, Hannibal isn’t one for showing much emotion after all.” Jack sighs.   
Will thinks about it for a second, then comes up with another question.   
“Was He in the hospital?”   
Jack pauses again and Will can almost feel the sweat pouring off him, He’s far too nervous about this topic.   
“He was in the hospital but…”  
As Jack is speaking, He walks in.   
“Sorry Jack I’ve got to go but I’ll talk more to you later.” Will hurriedly hangs up.   
“I believe that was Mr Crawford?” Hannibal inquires.   
“You would be right.” Will smiles at Him.   
He perches himself at the foot of Will’s bed, the metal bed frame creaking under his bulk.   
A moment of clarity washes over Will. “You were shot.”  
“You are very right, I was indeed shot.” Hannibal lifts his shirt to show bandages, “However health concerns for the person who is number one on the FBIs most wanted list is rather low.”   
He notices Will’s face twisted into something that might resemble concern.   
“Don’t worry for me Will, As long as your eyes are fine, so am I.”   
Will considers this for a moment.   
“If that works in reverse, Which I’m assuming it does as that’s most things with us.”  
He looks mildly interested in what Will has to say about the specific wording of his last sentence. Mildly interested to see if Will will figure him out. Will looks up at Hannibal. Looking into his eyes, the same way he looked into them on the cliff. He finds none of that past emotion there. 

“You’re Blind”


End file.
